API Publication 4507, Abandoned oil and gas industry wells

This paper reports on the potential for abandoned oil and gas industry wells in the Lower Tuscaloosa Sand oil-producing trend of Mississippi and Louisiana to act as conduits for flow of saline water from the Lower Tuscaloosa Sand into underground sources of drinking water. The study included correlation of the stratigraphic units throughout the Lower Tuscaloosa trend; documentation of the engineering characteristics of geologic units and abandoned wells in the trend; estimation of the thickness, porosity, and permeability of drilling mud and sloughed shale in abandoned wells in the trend; and an estimation of where corroded casing might occur in cased abandoned wells in the trend. On the basis of modeling that was performed, it was concluded that it is very unlikely that conditions would ever exist in the Lower Tuscaloosa trend where abandoned oil and gas wells would serve as conduits for movement of water into an underground source of drinking water